Funding
Spain-headquartered hydrogen sensor developer H2scan completed a $70m funding round yesterday that included diversified energy services provider GS Energy. Investment group LetterOne led the round, which came two years after H2scan raised $10.5m in series E funding from Energy Growth Momentum and $3m in venture debt from El Dorado Investment Company.
Eyebiotech, a UK-based developer of therapeutics for sight-threatening eye diseases, closed a $65m series A round yesterday featuring pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co’s MRL Ventures fund. Venture capital firm SV Health Investors led the round having already supplied an undisclosed amount of seed funding for the startup, and it was also joined by Samsara BioCapital and Jeito Capital.
Zenjob, the Germany-based operator of an online marketplace for temporary part-time jobs, received $50m in funding yesterday from investors including Axa Venture Partners, a vehicle for insurance firm Axa. The round was led by Aragon and also backed by Acton Capital, Atlantic Labs and Forestay Capital.
Financial services firm ANZ has invested $50m in Pollination, a UK-headquartered investment and advisory firm focused on climate change. The cash will make up part of the company’s series B round and ANZ is taking a seat on the firm’s board of directors in connection with the deal.
Industrial and chemicals group Koch Industries led a $46m series D round yesterday for Cohere Technologies, a US-based developer of software for open radio access networks yesterday through subsidiary Koch Investments Group. It was joined by Intel Capital and Telstra Ventures, on behalf of chipmaker Intel and telecommunications firm Telstra, as well as virtualisation software producer VMware, networking technology provider Juniper Networks, Lightspeed Ventures and New Enterprise Associates.
High-street fashion brand Dazzle Fashion has participated in a $40m series C round for US-headquartered sportswear producer Starter, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. VC firm QY Capital led the round, which included Sequoia Capital China and M31 Capital.
Phosphorus Cybersecurity, a US-based developer of internet-of-things security software, closed a $38m series A round co-led by insurance firm Massachusetts Mutual Life’s MassMutual Ventures unit. VC firm SYN Ventures co-led the round, which will fund the addition of new tools to the company’s platform.
China-based hospital management tool developer Palline has secured almost ($31.7m) in series A funding from investors including Legend Star, a corporate venturing subsidiary of conglomerate Legend Holdings, DealStreetAsia reported today. Yunqi Partners and BlueRun Ventures co-led the round, which also featured Bojiang Capital.
Xoxoday, an India-based developer of human resources software, received $30m in funding today from investors including loyalty services marketplace Giift. It participated in the round alongside private equity and VC firm Apis Partners.
Motorised vehicle manufacturer Yamaha took part in US-based factory automation technology developer Rios Intelligent Machines’ $28m series A round yesterday through subsidiary Yamaha Motor Ventures. The equity and debt round was led by deep tech investment fund Main Sequence and included Orbit Venture Partners, Hypertherm Ventures, Valley Capital Partners, Morpheus Ventures and Grit Ventures.
Media group Bertelsmann led a $22m series C round for India-based sales engagement software provider Vymo yesterday through corporate venturing vehicle Bertelsmann India Investments (BII). The round was also backed by Emergence Capital and Sequoia Capital while BII partner Rohit Sood is taking a seat on Vymo’s board of directors.
Brazil-based digital currency exchange Foxbit has raised $21m in series A funding from blockchain services and technology provider OK Group, Bloomberg reported yesterday. The cash will support technology development, recruitment and, potentially, strategic acquisitions.
Diversified conglomerate Reliance Industries’ Jio Platforms subsidiary has paid $15m for a 25% stake in Two, a US-based developer of interactive artificial intelligence technology, as part of a $20m seed round yesterday. The rest of the capital came from internet group Naver.
E-commerce marketplace Indiamart led India-based fleet management software provider FleetX’s $19.4m series B round on Monday. The corporate was joined by existing backers Beenext and IndiaQuotient.
9T Labs, a Switzerland-based spinout of ETH Zürich that has developed 3D industrial printing technology, completed a $17m series A round yesterday backed by 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys and Solvay Ventures, the investment arm of chemical producer Solvay. The round also featured cantonal bank Zürcher Kantonalbank, Verve Ventures, Ace and Company and Wingman Ventures.
SeMI Technologies, the Netherlands-based creator of a vector-search database, raised $16m yesterday in a series A round that included financial services firm ING’s VC arm, ING Ventures. VC firms New Enterprise Associates and Cortical Ventures co-led the round.
Oil and gas supplier Saudi Aramco’s Prosperity7’s fund has invested over RMB100m ($15.8m) in China-headquartered autonomous driving software provider Hyperview, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. The company had raised nearly $15.5m from GL Ventures, Linear Capital and Sky9 Capital in a May 2021 series A round and added an undisclosed amount of series A-plus funding from unnamed investors in September, according to DealStreetAsia.
Solana Ventures, the investment arm of blockchain technology provider Solana, co-led a $15m funding round yesterday for Zebec, the US-based developer of a programmable cash flow protocol for the Solana blockchain. The round was co-led by Distributed Global and included OKX Blockdream Ventures, a vehicle for digital currency exchange OKX, as well as fellow crypto exchange Coinbase, quantitative trading firm Alameda Research, payment technology producer Circle, Lightspeed Venture Partners, DST Global Partners, Road Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Beco Capital, Greenoaks, GoldenTree Asset Management and 500 Startups.
IBM Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of computing technology producer IBM, provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based quantum computing software and hardware developer Quantinuum, through a strategic investment yesterday. Quantinuum launched in November 2021 with $270m from consumer and industrial technology manufacturer Honeywell – which held 54% of the company – while the rest was owned by investors in company co-founder and quantum computing software provider Cambridge Quantum.
UK-headquartered flexible organic electronics manufacturer FlexEnable secured $11m yesterday in a series B round that included LCD backlight module producer Coretronic. The corporate invested alongside undisclosed European family offices and the deal gives it the option to invest a further $14m in FlexEnable.
Voximplant, a US-based developer of natural language processing software, has collected a total of $10.1m in funding from investors including internet technology provider Google’s Launchpad Accelerator, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Baring Vostok Capital Partners and RTP Ventures are also among its investors.
China-based extended reality software developer Shensi Technology has raised a total of over $10m across three rounds including an undisclosed amount of pre-series A-plus funding from quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group, DealStreetAsia reported today. Yuanhe Capital had supplied seed funding before GSR United Capital added an undisclosed amount of pre-series A financing.
Financial exchange and clearing house operator Intercontinental Exchange invested an undisclosed amount in tZero, the US-based creator of an alternative trading system for digital assets, yesterday in a deal that made it a ‘significant minority shareholder’. The cash came through a round that included e-commerce company Overstock.com and blockchain-focused VC fund Medici Ventures.
Plinqit, the US-based operator of an online savings platform which helps users earn money while learning good financial habits, received $5m in series A funding yesterday from investors including credit union 4Front. The round was co-led by Fintop Capital and Jam Fintop with additional backing from existing investors such as Invest Detroit and Michigan Rise.
ST Engineering Ventures, the strategic investment arm of technology, defence and engineering group ST Engineering, co-led a S$6.5m ($4.8m) pre-series A round for digital health tool developer MiyaHealth yesterday. The round was co-led with Elev8 and also featured undisclosed angel investors.
Dequency, the US-headquartered creator of an online platform facilitating the licensing of music for blockchain-native content, has secured $4.5m from investors including music publisher Riptide Music Group and talent agency Endeavor. The round was led by $1.5m from Borderless Capital and also featured angel investors Steve Kokinos, Vinny Lingham, Lyndon and Peter Rive, Kimbal Musk and Tosca Musk.
Global Blue, a provider of shopping tax refunds for travellers, supplied an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday for Toshi, the UK-based operator of a last-mile delivery service focusing on the luxury retail space. The capital was invested through a recently formed corporate venturing vehicle called Global Blue Ventures.
M&A
Financial exchange operator London Stock Exchange Group agreed yesterday to pay $325m to acquire Tora, a US-headquartered provider of trade execution and portfolio management software, enabling investment banking firm Goldman Sachs to exit. Goldman Sachs was one of two investors which had provided a total of $36.4m for the company in 2010 according to a securities filing.
Cybersecurity software producer Darktrace agreed today to purchase Cybersprint, a Netherlands-based developer of software which provides attack surface insights to aid in the security process, in a $53.7m deal enabling telecoms firm KPN to exit. The corporate’s KPN Ventures subsidiary had joined fellow existing investors InnovationQuarter and Vortex Capital Partners in a $2m round in September 2020 that took Cybersprint’s overall funding to just over $5m.
Financial services firm National Australia Bank exited ActivePipe, the Australia-based developer of a communication software tool for estate agents, yesterday through an acquisition of undisclosed size by residential brokerage software provider MoxiWorks. The bank had led ActivePipe’s $4.6m series A round in 2018 through corporate VC unit NAB Ventures.
Funds
US-headquartered venture capital firm Wilshere Partners reached a $40m first close of its first fund, which is anchored by real estate manager Morgan Properties, yesterday. JP Morgan Asset Management, Nile Capital Group, Schusterman Family Investments, TRB Advisors, First Close Partners, Asland Capital Partners, Bullock Capital and private investor Efrem Kamen are among the limited partners for the real estate technology fund, which has a $125m target for its final close.
Insurer Taiwan Life has committed $5m to the latest fund for US-based VC firm Lead Edge Capital, DealStreetAsia reported today, citing a regulatory filing. It is also providing $30m for LCP X (Offshore), a feeder fund for private equity and alternative investment firm Lexington Capital Partners.
